System and method for state-transition-controlled processing of objects

ABSTRACT

A control device and method for state-transition-based processing of objects following a state-structured process flow with a plurality of process states. For each process state one or more tasks are selected in order to process the transition of a selected object from one process state to the subsequent process state. State parameters of the selected object are captured and the current process state of the object is determined based on the captured state parameters. The tasks are generated for a specific process state in dependence on assigned task parameters of a process task. Operating tags are assigned to a process task and include dynamically alterable operating parameters adding operational constraints to the processing of the process task. The state-structured process flow is dynamically generated and processed by triggering defined threshold and/or trigger values and/or steering the processing of the process tasks based on the operating parameters of the operating-tags.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of PCT International Application No.PCT/EP2013/064041, filed Jul. 3, 2013, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems for providing automatedreal-time interaction and state-transition-controlled processing ofobjects by means of a central control system and for enabling thissystem to provide process, process operation, process modeling/adaptingand process management monitoring and related capabilities for processesexecuting and operating in systems external to those aforementioned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A workflow or process-flow comprises the technical and/or proceduralsteps required for executing a particular real-world process on anobject, the technical and other means to conduct the processing steps,and the transfer and flow of data/signaling between the means and/orsteps to execute the process on the object. Each step is defined by aset of processes, activities or tasks that need to be conducted. Withina workflow, objects (e.g., products, technical objects, data, claims,accounts, jobs etc.) pass through the different steps in the specifiedorder from start to finish, and the processes at each step are executedeither by dedicated technical processing devices or means, by systemfunctions (also, e.g., computer program products) or by dedicatedsignaling to specific people to perform activities on the object.Workflow systems can be set up using a visual front end or can behardcoded, and their execution is delegated to a workflow executionengine that handles the invocation and signal generation of the remotedevices or applications.

In the prior art, workflow systems are technically split into four broadfamilies, namely (i) production workflow systems, (ii) computationalworkflow systems, (iii) scientific workflow systems and (iv) businessworkflow systems. The production or industrial process systems arededicated to steering and executing processing of technical objects,such as devices or products, by steering and operating appropriatedevices for executing the activities of the workflow steps; thecomputational process systems serve for functional processing andcomputation of data objects; the business process systems serve for theautomated control of business processes inter alia by signal generationto people conducting the process steps; and finally, scientific workflowsystems serve for acting as middleware in the scientific researchprocess and typically have properties of all three mentioned control anddata workflow systems. Workflow systems usually provide numerouscapabilities for the monitoring of workflow processes, which are modeledand executed within the workflow system. Such capabilities can include,for example, analysis tools for the measurement and display of metricswith respect to the status of the processes, times to execute work stepsin the processes, and bottlenecks in the processes. These capabilitiescan also be transferred to the workflow system for workflow processes,which execute in systems external to the workflow system.

All four families of workflow systems comprise as the core the mentionedworkflow execution engine, a process management system or a similarcontrol device/system controlling and monitoring the processing of theobjects. The workflow execution engine of the workflow systems istypically implemented as a processor-based automation of the processflow, i.e., the industrial or production processes, the businessprocesses, the data or computational process and the scientificprocesses represented by the steps of the workflow. The workflowexecution engine steers a sequence of activities (work tasks),interactions and signaling with execution devices or means, or ininteraction with human resources (users) or IT resources (softwareapplications and databases), as well as rules controlling theprogression of processes through the various stages associated with eachactivity.

At the various stages of the process, especially in business workflowsystems, activities may require human interactions: typically user dataentry through a form. They may also interact with IT applications ordata sources to exchange information in various formats, such as files,e-mails, database content, etc. For certain workflow systems, one of theways to automate and operate the steering and monitoring of theprocesses by means of the workflow execution engine is to developappropriate processor codes and applications that lead a processor-basedworkflow execution engine for execution of the required steps of theprocess; however, in practice, such workflow execution engines arerarely able to accurately or completely execute all the steps of theprocess by means of the workflow system. To solve this problem, in theprior art, the typical approach is to use a combination of software andhuman intervention; however, this approach is more complex, making thereproducibility, the predictability, and even the information flow anddocumentation process difficult.

Another problem in the prior art system is that workflows are difficultto generate dynamically. However, at a certain process step in theworkflow, it may be necessary to adapt the processing by steps which arenot predictable at the beginning of the process flow or workflow andwhich may depend on environmental parameters or operational parametersof the execution devices or other state parameters of a certain workflowstate. To cope with this problem, in the prior art, specialized softwarehas been developed with the goal to enable the translation of possibleprocess steps into a computer operation code, wherein the source code isprocessed by an interpreter for execution by the processors. The systemwill either use services in connected applications to perform operationsor, when a step is too complex to automate, will ask for human input.However, interpreting the source code requires limited computingresources and takes time. Because the source code must be interpretedfor execution, the execution of a not preimplemented process is timeconsuming or, even worse, not possible to be put in execution in anautomated manner by the workflow system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a system and method forstate-transition controlled processing of objects by means of anappropriate control system, which do not have the drawbacks of the priorart. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to providea system, which is more capable of capturing the external and/orinternal factors that may affect the processing of an object within aworkflow and which is more capable of being operated by externally orinternally occurring boundary conditions or constraints. Further, it isan object of the invention to provide a system which is able todynamically react to changing environmental or internal conditions ormeasuring parameters that are possibly not known or predictable at thebeginning of the workflow process, in particular without humaninteraction.

According to the present invention, these objects are achievedparticularly through the features of the independent claims. Inaddition, further advantageous embodiments follow from the dependentclaims and the description.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned objects formulti-tier, state-transition-based processing are particularly achievedby selecting an object by means of a control system and processing theobject following a state-structured process flow comprising a pluralityof process states, wherein for each process state one or more processtasks are executed by means of the control system in order to processthe selected object from one process state to the subsequent processstate, characterized in that state parameters of the selected object arecaptured by capturing means of the control system, and a process stateis determined based on the captured state parameters and assigned to theselected object, in that based on the process state and/or stateparameters of the selected object at least one process task is generatedby means of the control system, wherein for a specific process state, agenerated process task is activated in dependence on task-parametersassigned to a process task, in that one or more operating tags aregenerated and expandably assigned to a process task or process flow, theoperating-tags comprising dynamically alterable operating parameterscontrolling the operation of an associated process task by means of thecontrol system and/or adding operational constraints to the processingof the process task and/or expanding or augmenting or indicating taskstates, and in that the state-structured process flow is dynamicallyoperated by the control system, wherein by means of the control system,an object is processed from a process state to a subsequent processstate by executing the assigned process tasks based upon the operatingparameters of the operating tags. The control system can also receiveprocess events or tasks from external processes, such as applicationsand systems, execution devices, assignees or assigners, processvisibility systems and/or the process management engine. Changes in theprocess flow can be induced by the execution of one or more tasks.However, process and tasks are independently realized in the system,wherein possible relations between process or process flow and theexecution of one or more tasks are implemented as constraints. Thecontrol system can also receive alert events from internal or externalprocesses, such as applications and systems, execution devices,assignees or assigners via the interface module, process visibilitysystems, the capturing means and/or the process management engine. Theoperating tags can comprise operational message data, wherein thedifferent components of the present system understand the operationalmessages, i.e. e.g. the process management engine, the runtime executiondevice, the control system etc. By means of the operational message dataof the operating-tags, process tasks initiated by the control systemand/or assignees and/or assigners and/or external processes etc. canprocess operations on process-flow of the object, process management andmonitoring processes. As mentioned, operational message data can bepassed between components of the control system in order to facilitatetheir cooperation. Operational message data can also carry updatesderived from the state of the capturing means or an external process tocontrol the flow of a process. Additionally, operational message datacan update the data values of a monitoring process. Such a monitoringprocesses typically can respond to these operational message datasimilar to traditional process-steps or work-steps in control andsteering systems. A selected object can comprise, e.g., at least oneproduct and/or technical object and/or data and/or claim and/or accountand/or job and/or contract and/or request and/or reporting object etc.The processing of the selected object can be monitored and/or displayedby means of the control system based upon at least the captured stateparameters, the task parameters and/or operating parameters. By means ofthe control-system, the state-structured process flow can be dynamicallygenerated and adapted, wherein the selected object is processed by meansof the control system initiating a subsequent process state bytriggering defined trigger values of the operating parameters and/ortask parameters and/or state parameters of the preceding process state.As a variant, for the state transition of a selected object in theprocess flow, a process task is split by means of subtasks, wherein asubtask is generated by the control system initiated by or generatedbased upon at least one of the operating parameters of the assignedoperating tags of the process task. For example, in a three-tierimplementation, the first-tier execution of the control system comprisesthe generation of the process states, the second-tier execution of thecontrol system comprises the generation and association of the processtasks and the third-tier execution comprises the generation of theoperating tags, wherein the processing of the object and the appropriatesignaling by the control system is dynamically adapted by alternatingthe operating parameters of the associated operating tags. As a variant,the task parameters can be captured at least partly via a plurality ofinput devices accessible by users of the control system forstate-transition-based processing of objects by means of the interfacemodule of the control system. Further, the task parameters can becaptured, e.g., via the plurality of input devices and interfacemodules, wherein the task parameters can comprise task parameters forinitiating the generation of a new process task. The invention has interalia the advantage that an object can be processed in a state-structuredprocess flow wherein the state-structured process flow can be fullycontrolled and operated by the control system. Further, it has theadvantage that applied process tasks of a process state of the processflow can be further controlled by means of the assigned operating tags,wherein operational constraints or splitting of specific tasks can becontrolled by the operating tags with operating parameters. Dynamicassignment of operating tags allows dynamic adaption of the process flowduring the processing of a selected object, i.e., an object processed inthe process flow. This also has the advantage that the control systemimplemented as a dynamically adaptable system can be automaticallyoptimized without any additional technical or human intervention. Thepresent control system for state-transition-controlled processing ofobjects for responsive process management allows operators to havereal-time visibility of their processes (executing both within andexternal to the platform), to model and dynamically adapt theirprocesses, execute those processes by execution devices and appropriatesignaling to those devices, sense and respond to external events, andincrementally improve those processes. This is not possible with thesystems, as know in the state of the art.

In one embodiment variant, control and steering signaling is generatedby means of a signaling module and transmitted to associated runtimeexecution modules, wherein the selected object is processed by executingthe activated process tasks by means of the runtime execution modulesbased on the transmitted control and steering signaling. A statetransition of the process flow can be processed, e.g., by the controlsystem based upon at least one operating parameter of an assignedoperating tag, wherein operational constraints to the execution and/orrelated signaling generation by means of the signaling module aresteered based on the specific value of said operating parameter. Thecontrol system and the runtime execution modules can e.g. interact inruntime, wherein the object is processed based on the dynamicallyadapted process flow with the generated process tasks and alterableoperating parameters of the associated operating tags by executing theactivated process tasks by means of the runtime execution modules basedon the transmitted control and steering signaling. Further, the controlsystem, e.g., can comprise said signaling module, wherein appropriatesignaling is generated by means of the signaling module for steering theexecution devices processing the selected object according to theprocess flow generated by the control system. This embodiment varianthas inter alia the advantage that any processing of an object can behandled fully automatically by means of the control system. In that way,the control system can automatically control, steer and operate theprocessing of a selected object within the process flow based on thedifferent state transitions of the selected object, wherein the controlsystem processes the objects by means of steering and signaltransmission to the execution modules or devices.

In a further embodiment variant, the control system comprises anhistoric engine device for assessing and steering the state-structuredprocess flow, wherein historic data of past state-structured processflows are stored in a storing device of the control system, wherein thestored historical data are compared to the present process flow, andrelevant historic process flow data are filtered from the stored data bymeans of a filter-module, wherein the historic engine device and thecontrol system are connected by a data link for data signalingtransmission between the control system and the historic engine device,and wherein the state-structured process flow is dynamically generatedby the control system and the selected object dynamically processedbased on the data signaling transmission from the historic engine deviceand based on the operating parameters and/or task parameters and/orstate parameters triggered by defined threshold and/or trigger values.This embodiment variant has inter alia the advantage that the controlsystem provides an improved process flow based on the comparison withhistorical data. This also allows an automatic adaption and optimizationof the system and the generated process flow, which is not possible inthis manner with the system known from the prior art.

In another embodiment variant, the state-structured process flow is adiscrete time stochastic control process, wherein the control systemcomprises a stochastical rating module, and wherein the initiation ofthe next process tasks are based at least on the selection of theprocess tasks of the preceding process state and an additional rating bymeans of the stochastical rating module. This embodiment variant hasinter alia the advantage that the control system can generate and adaptthe process flow automatically and also steer and operate externaldevices by appropriate signal generation.

In yet another embodiment variant, the control system is self-adapted byautomatically capturing the operating parameters of the associatedoperating tags by the capturing means of the control-system. Forexample, the control system can comprise measuring devices and/ormeasuring sensors for capturing the operating parameters of theassociated operating tags. Further, the control system can comprisemeasuring devices and/or measuring sensors for capturing the stateparameters of the selected object. This embodiment variant has interalia the advantage that it reacts automatically to internal or externalconditions relevant to the processing of an object in the process flowand operates without human interaction. Further, this has the advantagethat the processing of an object can be fully automated by the presentcontrol system.

In yet another embodiment variant, task parameters for initiating thegeneration of a new process task are dynamically generated based oncaptured operating parameters and/or task parameters and/orstate-parameters, wherein the process flow is self-adapted by thecontrol system by the generation of the new process tasks. Thisembodiment variant has inter alia the advantage that any processing ofan object can be handled fully automatically without any interaction byan operator, assigner and/or assignee of tasks or tags. Furthermore, theembodiment variant has the advantage that the control system can beoperated in a self-adapting way, reacting automatically on internal orexternal conditions relevant to the processing of an object in theprocess flow.

In addition to a system, as described above, and a corresponding method,the present invention also relates to a computer program product thatincludes computer program code means for controlling one or moreprocessors of the control system in such a manner that the controlsystem performs the proposed method, and relates in particular to acomputer program product that includes a computer-readable mediumcontaining therein the computer program code means for the processors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be explained in more detail, by way ofexample, with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating schematically an exemplarysystem according to the invention for state-transition-controlledprocessing of objects 71,72,73, wherein by means of a control system 10,an object 71,72,73 is selected and processed following astate-structured process flow 12 comprising a plurality of processstates 121,122,123. For each process state 121,122,123, one or moreprocess tasks 131 are executed by means of the control system 10,wherein the selected object 71,72,73 is processed from one process state121,122,123 to a subsequent process state 121,122,123. Operating tags132 control by dynamically alterable operating parameters the operationof an associated process task 131 by means of the control system 10and/or adding operational constraints to the processing of the processtask 131 and/or indicating task states.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating schematically an exemplarystate transition of a process task 131, wherein for each process state121,122,123, one or more process tasks 131 are executed by means of thecontrol system 10 in order to process the selected object 71,72,73 fromone process state 121,122,123 to a subsequent process state 121,122,123.Changes in the process flow can be induced by the execution of one or aplurality of tasks. However, process and tasks are independentlyrealized in the system, wherein possible relations between process orprocess flow and the execution of one or more tasks are implemented asconstraints. Therefore, the change of a process state 121,122,123 to thenext process state 121,122,123 can also be independent of the executionof a process tasks 131 based on a certain process flow 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically an architecture for a possibleimplementation of an embodiment of the electronic control system orcontrol apparatus 10 and a method for state-transition-controlledprocessing of objects 71,72,73. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 refersto the inventive control system. The control system 10 is implementedbased on underlying electronic components, steering codes andinteracting interface devices such as, e.g., signal generation modules,or other module interacting electronically by means of appropriatesignal generation between the different modules, devices or the like. Aselected object 71,72,73 can comprise, e.g., at least one product and/ortechnical object and/or data and/or claim and/or account and/or job. Anobject 71,72,73 is selected by means of a selecting or filtering moduleof the control system 10 and processed following a state-structuredprocess flow 12 and/or process life cycle comprising a plurality ofprocess states 121,122,123. For each process state 121,122,123, one ormore process tasks 131 is executed by the control system 10 in order toprocess the selected object 71,72,73 from one process state 121,122,123to a subsequent process state 121,122,123. Changes in the process flowcan be induced by the execution of one or a plurality of tasks. However,process and tasks are independently realized in the system, whereinpossible relations between process or process flow and the execution ofone or more tasks are implemented as constraints. The process tasks 131do not have to be necessarily generated by the control system 10, butcan as embodiment variant also be inserted or imported from externalmeans as denoted databases with appropriate predefined process tasks orinput means as consoles for manual entries etc. The process—orworkflow—12 based control system 10 comprises the technical and/orprocedural steps required for executing the state transition-controlledprocessing of objects 71,72,73, the technical and other means to conductthe processing steps, and the transfer and flow of data/signalingbetween the means and/or steps to execute the process on the objects71,72,73. The objects 71,72,73 are processed by a set of processes ortasks that need to be conducted. Within a process flow 12, objects71,72,73 (e.g., products, technical objects, data, claims, accounts,jobs etc.) pass through the different tasks and process states121,122,123 in the specified order from start to finish, and the tasksare executed either by dedicated technical processing devices or means,by specified control system 10 functions instructing a processor device,or by dedicated signaling to specific people to perform activities/taskson the object. For executing the process flow 12, the control apparatus10 comprises a process management engine 13. The generation of aspecific process flow 12, i.e. the process management processdefinition, can be generated, e.g., based on a desired process at aprocess management generator of the process management engine 13. Asdescribed in detail below, the process flow 12 can be generateddynamically (state by state) based upon at least measuring parameters ofthe capturing means 15,151, . . . ,154 and/or data transmitted via theinterface module 18 and the input devices 181,182,183, e.g. entered byassigners 31, . . . ,34 or assignees 41, . . . ,44 of process tasks 131.The generated process flow 12 is dynamically or partly dynamicallytranslated into a processor source code, e.g., Java source code or thelike, at a translator engine of the process management engine 13. Thesource code can then be compiled into a byte code at a compiler engineof the process management engine 13. Finally, a virtual machine of theprocessing device or a processor-driven, -steered or -operated device ofthe control system 10 can be configured to execute the byte code. Suchdevices can comprise execution devices of the process tasks 131 such as,e.g., the runtime execution modules 50,51,52. Therefore, the processflow 12 is modeled and generated by means of the process managementengine 13, including or based upon specific processing rules andtechnical instructions 131,132 stored in the database 11. A man skilledin the art understands, that the term of the technical instructions131,132 has to be interpreted broadly, comprising all technicalnecessary information, data, specification or operational parameters toallow the processing rules to be executed by the system.

The process flow 12 operation or management according to this inventionis the automated operation of industrial, scientific, computational orbusiness processes by means of the central control apparatus 10. It iscomposed of a sequence of activities (process- or worktasks 131),interactions with execution devices 50,51,52, capturing means 15 asmeasuring devices 151, . . . ,154 and/or human resources (users such as,e.g., assigners 31, . . . ,34 and assignees 41, . . . ,44), orelectronic resources (processors, software codes and data storage meansor databases 11), as well as rules controlling the progression ofprocesses through the various stages associated with its activities suchas, e.g., the process tasks 131 and operating tags 132. The processingof the selected object 71,72,73 can be monitored by means of dedicatedmonitoring and/or measuring devices of the control system 10 based uponat least the captured state parameters, the task-parameters and/oroperating parameters. The control system 10 can be implemented using oneor a plurality of visual front ends. The execution of the tasks iscontrolled, steered and operated by means of the control system 10 or adedicated process flow 12 execution engine that handles the invocationand signal generation of the remote devices or applications. The controlsystem 10 can be implemented, e.g., based on a three-tier structure,wherein the first-tier execution of the control system 10 comprises thegeneration of the process states 121,122,123, the second-tier executionof the control system 10 comprises the generation and association of theprocess tasks 131 and the third-tier execution comprises the generationof the operating tags 132, wherein the processing of the object 71,72,73and the appropriate signaling 141,142,143 by the control system 10 isdynamically adapted based on at least the alterable operating parametersof the associated operating tags 132. The reference numeral 141represents the appropriate signaling dedicated to the runtime executionmodule 50, 142 the signaling for runtime execution module 51 and 143 thesignaling for runtime execution module 52.

State parameters of the selected object 71,72,73 are captured bycapturing means 151,152,153,154 of the control system 10, and a processstate 121,122,123 is determined based on the captured state parameters.The determined process state 121,122,123 is assigned to the selectedobject 71,72,73 by the control system 10. Based on the determinedprocess state 121,122,123 and/or state parameters of the selected object71,72,73, at least one process task 131 is generated by means of thecontrol system 10, wherein for a specific process state 121,122,123, agenerated process task 131 is activated in dependence on task-parametersassigned to a process task 131. The control system 10, e.g., cangenerate one or more process tasks based on the process state121,122,123 of the selected object 71,72,73, wherein the process task131 is selectable from a defined, finite number of process tasks 131.

One or more operating tags 132 are generated and expendably assigned toa process task 131 and/or process state 121,122,123 and/or process flow12. The operating tags 132 comprise dynamically alterable operatingparameters controlling the operation of an associated process task 131by means of the control system 10 and/or by adding operationalconstraints to the processing of the process task 131. In particular,the operating parameters are assigned to task states such as, forexample, “pending” or “processing” or “in operation” or “done” or“cleared”. Aside from the task states, the operating tags 132 can alsobe state-independently assigned to process tasks 131 or process flowand/or take on itself an operating tag's state or operating tag's value.Based on at least one of the operating parameters of the operating tags132 assigned to the process task 131, a process task 131, e.g., can besplit by means of corresponding subtasks, which is generated by thecontrol system 10. Analogously, an operating tag 132 can also beassigned to the process and process state 121,122,123, respectively. Asembodiment variant, the operating tags 132 themselves can possesstag-states influencing the operation of the process flow 12. Operatingtags 132 can also be externally set by an authorized assigner 31, . . .,34 or assignee 41, . . . ,44 of a process task 131. The generation ofthe subtasks can be conducted automatically, if the control system 10triggers and/or detects predefinable values of the state parametersand/or task parameters and/or operating parameters.

In different embodiment variants, the operating tags 132 may vary intheir realization. For example, (i) An operating tag 132 can be simply adate with the states ‘due’ and ‘overdue’. This can result in a statechange by the control system 10 by a) sending follow-up notifications touser(s) (i.e. assigner 31, . . . ,34 and/or assignee 41, . . . ,44)and/or b) highlighting the task when displayed to the user(s); (ii) Anoperating tag 132 can denote an aspect of work e.g. Pricing,Contractual, Reporting, etc. with the states ‘pending’ and ‘done’. Thiscan result in a state change by the user by a) dropping off a respective(per aspect of work) tasks from a user's view upon receiving the statedone (e.g. also while keeping it in the view of other users), b)preventing the promotion of the task to completed unless all respectiveaspects are denoted ‘done’. (The same concept can be applied fororganizational units), (iii) An operating tag 132 can denote thesupervision by a user or a group of users e.g. ‘Supervisor (user id)’with the states ‘watching’ or ‘escalation-pending’,‘escalation-approved’. This can result in a state change by the user(i.e. assigner 31, . . . ,34 and/or assignee 41, . . . ,44) and/or thecontrol system 10 by a) triggering follow-up notifications to user(s),b) preventing the promotion of the task in case of ‘escalation-pending’.(The same can be applied for tags like ‘Approver (user id)’ with states‘pending’, ‘approved’, ‘rejected’); (iv) An operating tag 132 can denotethe requirement to retain the audit trail of a task (or process) withthe states ‘none’, ‘retained’, ‘expired’. This can result in a statechange by the control system 10 by preventing deletion of the respectivetask; (v) Operating tags 132 can assuming that the states ‘included’ and‘excluded’ can be applied for e.g. SLA (Service Level Agreement)calculations or other reporting purposes. This can result in a statechange by the user (i.e. assigner 31, . . . ,34 and/or assignee 41, . .. ,44) and/or the control system 10 by determining whether a task isconsidered during reporting. (Note, that the application of ‘included’vs. ‘excluded’ states can be broader than that for appropriateembodiment variants); and (vi) A tag can denote the level of protectionwith the states ‘public’ or ‘confidential’. This can result in a statechange by the user and/or the control system 10 by constraining theaccess to a particular task to any or a constrained group of users.Generally, the operating tags 132 and their states will provide the userthe ability to access and report his/her tasks along the applieddimensions following a single consistent model.

The control system 10 can receive process events or tasks from externalprocesses, such as systems and applications, execution devices 50,51,52,assigners 31, . . . ,34 or assignees 41, . . . ,44, process visibilitysystems and/or internal devices such as the process management engine13. The control system 10 can also receive alert events from internal orexternal processes, such as systems and applications, execution devices50,51,52, assigners 31, . . . ,34 or assignees 41, . . . ,44 via theinterface module, process visibility systems, the capturing means 15and/or the process management engine 13 etc. The operating tags 132 cancomprise operational message data, wherein the different component ofthe present system understand the operational message data, i.e. forexample the process management engine 13, the runtime execution devices50,51,52, the control system 10 etc. By means of the operational messagedata of the operating-tags 132, process tasks 131 initiated by thecontrol system 10, assigners 31, . . . ,34 or assignees 41, . . . ,44,external processes etc. can process operations on process-flow, processmanagement and monitoring processes. The possibilities of interactionwith the system by assigners 31, . . . ,34 or assignees 41, . . . ,44can comprise constraints based on the user area 20, . . . ,22 a specificassigner 31, . . . ,34 or assignee 41, . . . ,44 is assigned to. A userarea 20, . . . ,22 represent a business unit and/or a operationalaffiliation of an assigner 31, . . . ,34 or assignee 41, . . . ,44and/or a level of authorization of an assigner 31, . . . ,34 or assignee41, . . . ,44. However, a user area 20, . . . ,22 can denote anyclassification or differentiation, which may be needed to operate theprocess flow. As mentioned, operational message data can be passedbetween components of the control system 10 and also between the controlsystem 10 and external devices in order to facilitate their cooperation.Operational message data can also carry updates derived from the stateof the capturing means 15 or an external process to control the flow ofa process. Additionally, operational message data can update the datavalues of a monitoring process. Such a monitoring processes typicallycan respond to these operational message data similar to traditionalprocess-steps or work-steps in control and steering systems.

The state-structured process flow 12 is dynamically operated by thecontrol system 10, wherein by means of the control system 10, theselected object 71,72,73 is processed from the determined process state121,122,123 to a subsequent process state 121,122,123 by executing theassigned process tasks 131 based upon the operating parameters of theoperating tags 132. The state-structured process flow 12 can beoperated, e.g., by a signaling module 14 of the control system 10generating appropriate control and steering signaling 141,142,143 whichis transmitted to associated runtime execution modules 50,51,52. Theruntime execution modules 50,51,52 are operated and steered by thetransmitted signaling 141,142,143, wherein a selected object 71,72,73 isprocessed by executing the process tasks 131 associated to the processstate of the selected object 71,72,73 by means of the runtime executionmodules 50,51,52 based on the transmitted control and steering signaling141,142,143. The state transition of an object 71,72,73 in the processflow 12 can be processed, e.g., by the control system 10 based upon atleast one operating parameter of an assigned operating tag 132, whereinoperational constraints to the execution and/or related signalinggeneration by means of the signaling module 14 are steered based on thespecific value of said operating parameter. The control system 10 andthe runtime execution modules 50,51,52, e.g., can interact in runtime,wherein the object 71,72,73 is processed based on the dynamicallyadapted process flow 12 by the generated process tasks 131 and thealterable operating parameters of the associated operating tags 132 byexecuting the activated process tasks 131 by means of the runtimeexecution modules 50,51,52 based on the transmitted control and steeringsignaling 141,14,143 and/or assignees 41, . . . ,44 of a process task131.

The control system 10 can operate dynamically by dynamically generatingthe process states 121,122,123 of the process flow 12 or at leastpartially dynamic by adapting a generated process flow 12 based onmeasuring parameters captured by the capturing means 15,151, . . . ,154,as already described. However, the control apparatus 10 can also operateinternally in a two-phase modus: a construction or generation phase andan execution phase. The construction phase comprises the analysis,design, definition and generation of a specific process flow 12 and itsactivities by means of a process management engine 13. Interfaces withexecution devices 51,52,53 and/or an interface module 18 and/orsignaling module 14 and/or capturing means 15/151, . . . ,154 and/or anexecution code, applications and data sources can also be built duringthis phase. The execution phase is the instantiation of a process andthe execution and operation of its activities and interactions by meansof an execution engine and appropriate signal generation by means of thesignaling module 14. During this phase, processes can additionally bemonitored and administered by means of a graphical console, for example,by assigners 31, . . . ,34 and/or assignees 41, . . . ,44. Theconstruction phase is implemented and processed by the processmanagement engine 13, which includes process generation and designencompassing the identification of existing processes, process tasks 131and operation tags 132, and the generation of “to-be” processes, processtasks 131 and/or operation tags 132. The control apparatus 10 caninclude graphical user interfaces for representation of the processflow, the actuators within it, alerts and notifications, escalations,standard operating procedures, service level agreements, process tasks131, handover mechanisms, etc. With the graphical user interface, thecontrol system 10 provides a responsive process management systemallowing to have real-time visibility of ongoing processes and processtasks executed on a selected object 71,72,73 in the process flow 12. Thereal-time process visibility provides operators, users, assigners 31, .. . ,34 and/or assignees 41, . . . ,44 with the ability to see and knowhow its control systems 10 infrastructure is operating, thereby inparticular providing answers to questions such as where are thebottlenecks, where are processes getting stuck, and what is causingproblems in the control system's 10 infrastructure or in associateddevices. The control system 10 allows the users to respond to externaland internal events to sense threats and opportunities and also topredict future process states and process tasks. The control system 10provides for process flow 12 improvements through the automatedmonitoring, analysis, modeling, and execution of process flows 12 on anobject 71,72,73.

The process management engine 13 comprises processor-driven modules ordevices, as described above. These processor-driven modules can beimplemented by means of one or more general-purpose processing devicessuch as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. Inparticular, said processor-driven devices can comprise complexinstruction set computing microprocessors, reduced instruction setcomputing microprocessors, very long instruction word microprocessors,or processors implementing other instruction sets, or processorsimplementing a combination of instruction sets. Said processor-drivendevices can also comprise one or more special purpose processing devicessuch as an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmablegate array, a digital signal processor, network processor, etc. Theprocessor-driven devices are configured to execute the execution codes,as mentioned above, and for performing the operations and stepsdiscussed there. The processor-driven devices can also comprise furtherhardware or software or a combination of both. Data storage devices 11for storing inter alia execution codes, the process flow 12, stateparameters of the process states 121,122,123, tasks parameters or theprocess tasks 131, measuring parameters of the capturing means 15,151, .. . ,154, operation parameters of the operating tags 132, etc. cancomprise a non-transitory computer-accessible storage medium on which isstored the mentioned data and execution codes. Said data can alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within another dedicatedmemory of the process management engine 13 during execution thereof bythe control system 10, wherein the process management engine 13 alsoconstitutes computer-accessible storage media. The storage mediumaccessible by the processor-driven devices of the process managementengine 13 can comprise, e.g., a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The processor-accessiblestorage medium can comprise any medium that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machineand that causes the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention. The processor-accessible storagemedium can comprise, but is not limited to, solid-state memories,optical and magnetic media.

The control system 10 can comprise, e.g., measuring devices and/ormeasuring sensors 151,152,153,154 for capturing the operating parametersof the associated operating tags 132. Further, the control system 10 cancomprise measuring devices and/or measuring sensors for capturing thestate parameters and/or task parameters and/or operating parameters ofthe selected object 71,72,73. Additionally or alternatively, the taskparameters are at least partly captured via a plurality of input devices181,182,183 accessible by users of the control system 10 forstate-transition-based processing of objects 71,72,73 by means of theinterface module 18 of the control system 10. The users can compriseassigners 31, . . . ,34 of one or more process tasks 131 and/orassignees 41, . . . ,44 of process tasks 131. The input devices181,182,183 can comprise one or more data processing units, displays andother operating elements such as a keyboard and/or a computer mouse oranother pointing device. As mentioned, the users can be assigners 31, .. . ,34 or assignees 4, . . . ,44 of a process task transmitting,assigning or receiving data to and from the control system 10 by theinput devices 181,182,183, which can be connected with the controlsystem 10 directly or via a data transmission network 60. Therefore, thecontrol system 10 and/or the input devices 181,182,183 and/or executionmodules 50,51,52 can be connected via a network 60 for signaltransmission. The network can comprise, e.g., a telecommunicationnetwork as a wired or wireless network, e.g., the Internet, aGSM-network (Global System for Mobile Communications), an UMTS-network(Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and/or a WLAN (WirelessLocal Area Network), a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and/ordedicated point-to-point communication lines. The control system 10and/or the input devices 181,182,183 and/or execution modules 50,51,52can also comprise a plurality of interfaces to connect to thecommunication network 60 according to the transmission standard orprotocol.

The task parameters captured via the plurality of input devices181,182,183 and the interface module 18 can comprise task parameters forinitiating the generation of a new process task 131. Thestate-structured process flow 12, e.g., is dynamically generated andadapted by dynamically generating, based on a certain process state, thesubsequent process state 121,122,123. The selected object 71,72,73 isprocessed by means of the control system 10 that initiates a subsequentprocess state 121,122,123, for example, by triggering defined triggervalues of the operating parameters and/or task parameters and/or stateparameters of the preceding process state 121,122,123.

As an embodiment variant, the control system 10 comprises an historicengine device 16 for assessing and steering the state-structured processflow 12. Historic data of past state-structured process flows 12 arestored in a storing device 11 of the control system 10. The storedhistorical data are compared to the present process flow 12, andrelevant historic process flow data from the stored data are filtered bymeans of a filter module 17. The historic engine device 16 and thecontrol system 10 are connected by a data link for data signalingtransmission between the control system 10 and the historic enginedevice 16. In this embodiment variant, the state-structured process flow12 is dynamically generated by the control system 10 and the selectedobject is dynamically processed based on the data signaling transmissionfrom the historic engine device 16 and based on the operating parametersand/or task parameters and/or state parameters triggered by definedthreshold and/or trigger values.

In a further embodiment variant, the state-structured process flow 12 isimplemented as a discrete time stochastic control process, wherein thecontrol system 10 comprises a dedicated stochastical rating module, andwherein the initiation of the next process tasks 131 is based at leaston the selection of the process tasks 131 of the preceding process state121,122,123 and an additional rating by means of the stochastical ratingmodule. In another embodiment variant, the objects 71,72,73 compriseclaims to be processed, and the control system 10 can further comprise,e.g., a dedicated loss resolving unit which comprises any kind of damagerecovery modules and/or automated repair nodes, and which can inparticular be implemented as an automated claim resolve unit, comprisingthe appropriate means for electronic accounting, billing and othertransactions for compensation of losses. The damage recovery modules canalso comprise monetary-based damage compensation, which iselectronically assigned to a certain claim selected as object 71,72,73by the control system 10. The loss resolving units can also comprisededicated repair nodes comprising automatic or semiautomatic systems tomaintain operation or to recover loss in the case of a loss associatedwith a claim processed by the control system 10.

A further automation of the control system 10 can be implemented in thatthe control system 10 is at least partly self-adapted by means ofautomatically capturing of the operating parameters of the associatedoperating tags 132 by the capturing means 151,152,153,154 of thecontrol-system 10. The capturing means 151,152,153,154 can comprise allkind of physical or analytic measure devices, in particular all kind ofsensors and data capturing or data filtering devices. For the processingof the object 71,72,73, e.g., at least one task parameter can bedynamically generated based on captured operating parameters and/or taskparameters and/or state parameters for initiating the generation of anew process task 131, wherein the process flow 12 is self-adapted by thecontrol system 10 by the generation of the new process tasks 131. One ormore task parameters can be dynamically generated based on capturedoperating parameters and/or task parameters and/or state parameters forinitiating the generation of a new process task 131, wherein the processflow 12 is self-adapted by the control system 10 by the generation ofthe new process tasks 131. In particular, the control system 10 can scandynamically for measurement parameters by means of the capturing means151,152,153,154.

If the control apparatus 10 is used to process objects 71,72,73 ofmanagement consulting, banking, insurance etc., services or theenvironment, i.e., is used to perform and operate a business workflow ona selected object 71,72,73, such environment requires the combined useof a complex set of resources and personnel to serve a client's needs.The resources and personnel needed to meet a client's needs varythroughout a particular process flow, and are distributed acrossdisparate physical and electronic/digital locations. The controlapparatus 10 allows to cope in an automated manner with such a complexenvironment without the need of identifying and then leveraging thoseresources and personnel needed to meet a client's needs at a given stepin a business process, which demands significant computing and networkresources and time in the prior art systems. With today's business andtechnology requirements, as well as with the trend away from centrallylocated resources and personnel, creating an efficient collaborationinfrastructure that effectively identifies and leverages a business'best personnel and resources for a given task while minimizing the drainon available computing and network resources is not possible with theprior art systems in the manner the control system 10 can achieve this.However, the processor-driven control system 10 and method can be usedas a core steering and operating element in automated systems of allfour categories, namely production workflow systems, computationalworkflow systems, scientific workflow systems and business workflowsystems in order to process an object 71,72,73 by means of astate-transition-controlled process. The control system 10 allowsidentifying, operating and embedding collaboration resources in anautomated manner into processes and applications so as to achieve topand bottom-line results. Therefore, the control system 10 andcorresponding method can be applied to many different industries'process flows 12, banking process flows 12, insurance process flows 12,utility process flows 12, etc., and provides a significant impact interalia, where, for example, the following circumstances may be present:Highly complex and/or exception-driven processes; value is based onspeed of turnaround; scarce computing and network resources are criticalto success; and remote physical presence is required.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for state-transition-controlledprocessing of objects wherein, via a control system, an object isselected and processed following a state-structured process flowincluding a plurality of process states, for each process state at leastone process task is executed, and the selected object is processed fromone process state to a subsequent process state, the method comprising:capturing state parameters of the selected object; determining a processstate based on the captured state parameters; assigning the processstate to the selected object; generating, via a processor, based on theprocess state and at least one of state parameters of the selectedobject, the at least one process task; activating, for a specificprocess state, a process task of the at least one process task based ontask parameters assigned to the process task; generating and expendablyassigning one or more operating tags to the activated process task orprocess flow, the one or more operating tags including dynamicallyalterable operating parameters controlling at least one of operation ofan associated process task, adding operational constraints to processingof the process task, and expanding or indicating task states; processingan object from the determined process state to the subsequent processstate by executing the activated process task based on the operatingparameters of the operating tags; and monitoring, via the controlsystem, the processing of the selected object based upon at least one ofthe captured state parameters, the task parameters and the operatingparameters, and dynamically generating and adapting, via the controlsystem, the state-structured process flow based on the monitoring, thestate structured process flow being an industrial product processingflow, wherein the control system controls execution of thestate-structured process flow and is self-adapting by automaticallycapturing, via measuring sensors, the operating parameters of theassociated operating tags, and the processing of the selected object andappropriate signaling by the control system is dynamically adapted byaltering the operating parameters of the one or more assigned operatingtags.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a subsequent processstate is initiated by triggering at least one of defined trigger valuesof the operating parameters, task parameters, and state parameters of apreceding process state.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein forstate transition of the state-structured process flow, the activatedprocess task is split via subtasks, wherein a subtask is generated basedon at least one of the operating parameters of the operating tagsassigned to the activated process task.
 4. The method according to claim1, further comprising: generating control and steering signalingtransmitting the control and steering signaling to associated runtimeexecution modules, wherein the selected object is processed by executingthe activated process task via the runtime execution modules based onthe transmitted control and steering signaling.
 5. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein state transition of an object in thestate-structured process flow is processed based upon at least oneoperating parameter of an assigned operating tag, wherein at least oneof operational constraints to execution and related signaling generationare steered based on the specific value of the at least one operatingparameter.
 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:assessing and steering, via a historic engineering device, thestate-structured process flow; storing, in memory, historic data of paststate-structured process flows; comparing the stored historical data tothe state-structured process flow; filtering relevant historic processflow data from the stored historical data, wherein the historic enginedevice and the control system are connected by a data link for datasignaling transmission between the control system and the historicengine device; dynamically generating the state-structured process flowand the processed selected object based on the data signalingtransmission from the historic engine device and at least one of theoperating parameters, task parameters and state parameters triggered bydefined threshold or trigger values.
 7. The method according to claim 1,wherein the state-structured process flow is a discrete time stochasticcontrol process, and initiation of subsequent process tasks is based atleast on selection of process tasks of a preceding process state and anadditional rating.
 8. The method according to claim 4, wherein thecontrol system and the runtime execution modules interact in runtime,wherein the selected object is processed based on the dynamicallyadapted state-structured process flow with the activated process taskand alterable operating parameters of the associated operating tags byexecuting the activated process task via the runtime execution modulesbased on the transmitted control and steering signaling.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein a first-tier execution of the controlsystem includes generation of the process states, a second-tierexecution of the control system includes generation and association ofthe at least one process task, and a third-tier execution includesgeneration of the operating tags.
 10. The method according to claim 1,wherein at least one of measuring devices and the measuring sensorscapture the operating parameters of the associated operating tags. 11.The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring sensors captureat least one of the state parameters and task parameters of the selectedobject.
 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the task parametersare at least partly captured via a plurality of input devices accessibleby users of the control system for state-transition-based processing ofobjects via an interface module of the control system.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the task parameters captured via theplurality of input devices and the interface module include taskparameters for initiating the generation of a new process task.
 14. Themethod according to claim 12, wherein at least one task parameter isdynamically generated by the control system based on at least one ofcaptured operating parameters, task parameters and state parameters forinitiating the generation of a new process task, wherein thestate-structured process flow is self-adapted by the control system viageneration of new process tasks.
 15. The method according to claim 1,wherein the control system includes a signaling module, whereinappropriate signaling is generated via the signaling module for steeringexecution devices processing the selected object according to thestate-structured process flow generated by the control system.
 16. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the selected object includes atleast one of at least one product, technical object, data, claim,account and job.
 17. The method according to claim 1, wherein theprocessing of the selected object is monitored via at least one ofdedicated monitoring and measuring devices of the control system basedupon at least one of at least the captured state parameters, the tasksparameters and operating parameters.
 18. A system for conductingstate-transition-controlled processing of objects comprising: a controlsystem configured to, via circuitry, select and process an objectfollowing a state-structured process flow having a plurality of processstates; execute, for each process state, at least one process task inorder to process the selected object from one process state to asubsequent process state; capture state parameters of the selectedobject; determine a process state based on the captured stateparameters; assign the process state to the selected object; generate atleast one process task based on at least one of the process state andstate parameters of the selected object, activate, for a specificprocess state, a generated process task of the at least one process taskbased on on task parameters assigned to the process task; generate oneor more operating tags and expendably assign the generated operatingtags to the activated process task, the operating tags includingdynamically alterable operating parameters controlling at least one ofoperation of an associated process task via the control system, addingoperational constraints to the processing of the process task andexpanding or indicating task states, and monitor the processing of theselected object based upon at least one of the captured stateparameters, the task parameters and the operating parameters, anddynamically generate and adapt the state-structured process flow basedon the monitoring, the state structured process flow being an industrialproduct processing flow, wherein the control system controls executionof the state-structured process flow and is self-adapting byautomatically capturing, via measuring sensors, the operating parametersof the associated operating tags, and the processing of the selectedobject and appropriate signaling by the control system is dynamicallyadapted by altering the operating parameters of the one or more assignedoperating tags, wherein an object is processed from the process state tothe subsequent process state by executing the activated process taskbased upon the operating parameters of the operating tags.
 19. Thesystem according to claim 18, wherein the control system processes theselected object by initiating a subsequent process state based on atleast one of triggering defined trigger values of the operatingparameters, task parameters and state parameters of a preceding processstate.
 20. The system according to claim 18, wherein the activatedprocess task includes one or more subtasks for splitting the activatedprocess task based on captured operating parameters, wherein a subtaskis generated based on at least one of the operating parameters of theassigned operating tags of the activated process task.
 21. The systemaccording to claim 18, wherein the circuitry generates, via a signalingmodule, control and steering signaling and transmits the signaling toassociated runtime execution modules, wherein the selected object isprocessed by executing the activated process task via the runtimeexecution modules based on the transmitted control and steeringsignaling.
 22. The system according to claim 18, wherein the processingof a state transition of an object in the state-structured process flowis based upon at least one operating parameter of an assigned operatingtag, wherein operational constraints to at least one of the executionand related signaling generation via the signaling module are steeredbased on a specific value of the at least one operating parameter. 23.The system according to claim 21, wherein the circuitry assesses andsteers, via a historic engine device, the state-structured process flow,historic data of past state-structured process flows is stored inmemory, the stored historical data is compared to the state-structuredprocess flow and relevant historic process flow data are filtered fromthe stored data, the historic engine device and the control system areconnected by a data link for data signaling transmission between thecontrol system and the historic engine device, and the state-structuredprocess flow is dynamically generated by the control system and theselected object dynamically processed based on the data signalingtransmission from the historic engine device and based on at least oneof the operating parameters, task parameters, and state parameterstriggered by at least one of defined threshold and trigger values. 24.The system according to claim 18, wherein the state-structured processflow is a discrete time stochastic control process, and whereininitiation of subsequent process tasks is based at least one ofselection of process tasks of a preceding process state and anadditional rating.
 25. The system according to claim 21, wherein thecontrol system includes a transmitter interacting in runtime with theruntime execution modules, wherein the object is processed based on thedynamically adapted state-structured process flow with the generatedprocess task and alterable operating parameters of the associatedoperating tags by executing the activated process task via the runtimeexecution modules based on the transmitted control and steeringsignaling.
 26. The system according to claim 18, wherein a first-tierexecution of the control system includes the generation of the processstates, a second-tier execution of the control system includes thegeneration and association of the activated process task, and athird-tier execution includes the generation of the operating tags,wherein the processing of the object and the appropriate signaling isdynamically adapted by alternating the operating parameters of theassociated operating tags.
 27. The system according to claim 18, whereinthe measuring sensors capture the operating parameters of the associatedoperating tags.
 28. The system according to claim 18, wherein thecontrol system measuring sensors capture at least one of the stateparameters and task parameters of the selected object.
 29. The systemaccording to claim 18, wherein the control system includes a pluralityof input devices for at least partly capturing at least one of one ormore task parameters and operating parameters, wherein the input devicesare accessible by users of the control-system for state-transition-basedprocessing of objects via an interface module of the control system. 30.The system according to claim 29, wherein the task parameters capturedvia the plurality of input devices and the interface module include taskparameters for initiating the generation of a new process task.
 31. Thesystem according to claim 29, wherein the control system dynamicallygenerates the task parameters for initiating the generation of a newprocess task based on at least one of captured operating parameters,task parameters and state parameters, wherein the process flow isself-adapting by the control system by the generation of the new processtasks.
 32. The system according to claim 18, wherein the control systemincludes a signaling module, wherein appropriate signaling is generatedvia the signaling module to steer execution devices processing theselected object according to the process flow generated by the controlsystem.
 33. The system according to claim 18, wherein a selected objectincludes at least one of at least one product, technical object, data,claim, account and job.
 34. The system according to claim 18, whereinthe control system includes at least one of dedicated monitoring andmeasuring devices that monitor the processing of the selected objectbased upon at least one of the captured state parameters, the taskparameters and operating parameters.